Reference Terms

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Language

A language is a method of communication.

Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article "Language", which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

For more information, see the following related content on ScienceDaily:

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1,500 Endangered Languages at High Risk of Being Lost This Century

Dec. 16, 2021 — A new study warns 1,500 endangered languages could no longer be spoken by the end of this ...

Natural Language Processing Research: Signed Languages

Aug. 9, 2021 — Advancements in natural language processing (NLP) enable computers to understand what humans say and help people communicate through tools like machine translation, voice-controlled assistants and ...

New Bird App Spreads Its Wings

Apr. 21, 2022 — Researchers have helped design an app to protect birds at risk of extinction across the world by breaking down language barriers between ...

How the Brain Processes Sign Language

Feb. 19, 2021 — Over 70 million deaf people use sign languages as their preferred communication form. Although they access similar brain structures as spoken languages, it hasn't been identified the brain ...

Project Aims to Expand Language Technologies

Jan. 10, 2023 — Only a fraction of the 7,000 to 8,000 languages spoken around the world benefit from modern language technologies like voice-to-text transcription, automatic captioning, instantaneous translation and ...

Exploring the Past: Computational Models Shed New Light on the Evolution of Prehistoric Languages

Aug. 31, 2021 — A new linguistic study sheds light on the nature of languages spoken before the written period, using computational modeling to reconstruct the grammar of the 6500-7000 year-old Proto-Indo-European ...

When Languages Collide, Which Survives?

Nov. 14, 2023 — Researchers incorporate language ideologies, along with the impact of interaction between individuals with opposing preferences, on the language shift process. The team chose a quantitative approach ...

Sign Languages Change, Too: The Evolution of SELF in ASL

June 6, 2022 — A new study shows that American Sign Language (ASL) is more linguistically complex than previously understood. In particular, new research documents the emergence of the copula --- a word meaning to ...

Perceptual Links Between Sound and Shape May Unlock Origins of Spoken Words

Nov. 17, 2021 — Most people around the world agree that the made-up word 'bouba' sounds round in shape, and the made-up word 'kiki' sounds pointy -- a discovery that may help to explain how ...

Going Beyond English Is Critical for Conservation

Mar. 21, 2023 — Research in languages other than English is critically important for biodiversity conservation and is shockingly under-utilized internationally, according to an international research ...

Science News

December 9, 2023

'Shocking' Discovery: Electricity from Electric Eels May Transfer Genetic Material to Nearby Animals

Dec. 5, 2023 — Researchers have discovered that electric eels can alter the genes of tiny fish larvae with their electric shock. Their findings help to better understand electroporation, a method by which genes can ...

Geoscientists Map Changes in Atmospheric CO2 Over Past 66 Million Years

Dec. 7, 2023 — An international consortium of geoscientists has reconstructed atmosphereric levels of CO2 going back 66 million years using proxies in the geoloogical record. Today's concenteration, 420 parts per million, is higher than it's ever been in 14 ...

Ancient Stars Made Extraordinarily Heavy Elements

Dec. 7, 2023 — How heavy can an element be? An international team of researchers has found that ancient stars were capable of producing elements with atomic masses greater than 260, heavier than any element on the periodic table found naturally on Earth. The ...

Mice Pass the Mirror Test, a Classic Indicator of Self-Recognition

Dec. 5, 2023 — Researchers report that mice display behavior that resembles self-recognition when they see themselves in the mirror. When the researchers marked the foreheads of black-furred mice with a spot of white ink, the mice spent more time grooming their ...

Latest Headlines

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New Insights Into Zebra Mussel Attachment Fibers Offer Potential Solutions to Combat Invasive Species, Develop Sustainable Materials

Dec. 8, 2023 — A recent study has revealed that an unlikely event, occurring over 12 million years ago played an important role in shaping one of Canada's most ...

Children Born Moderately Early Are at an Increased Risk of Developmental Disorders

Dec. 7, 2023 — Children born between 32 and 38 weeks' gestation are more likely to have developmental disorders -- such as language delay, cognitive impairment, ...

Manipulation of Gut Microbiota With Flaxseed Could Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Dec. 7, 2023 — A new study demonstrates that the human gut microbiome may be a factor in breast ...

Surgery Patients Now Less Likely to Get Opioids -- But Decline Has Slowed

Dec. 7, 2023 — Post-surgery pain relief has shifted away from opioid-containing medications over the past seven years, but the downward trend has slowed since 2020, a new study shows. Overall, the rate of ...

Tiny Llama Nanobodies Neutralize Different Noroviruses: Can They Improve Human Anti-Viral Therapies?

Dec. 7, 2023 — Researchers investigated a novel strategy to neutralize human noroviruses. They tested the ability of tiny antibodies produced by llamas, called ...

Protected Areas in Thailand Are at a Higher Risk of Forest Fires When Located Away from Indigenous Communities

Dec. 7, 2023 — Research has found that national parks and protected areas are at a higher risk of forest fires when located farther away from indigenous ...

Battle of the AIs in Medical Research: ChatGPT Vs Elicit

Dec. 9, 2023 — A research team has focused on generative AI as an information-gathering tool in the medical field. The results showed that one of the generative AIs suggested mostly fictitious references, while the ...

Researchers Safely Integrate Fragile 2D Materials Into Devices

Dec. 9, 2023 — A new technique integrates 2D materials into devices and systems in a single step, while keeping surfaces and interfaces free from defects. This method could enable devices like those in computer ...

What Happens When the Brain Loses a Hub?

Dec. 8, 2023 — Neuroscientists have obtained the first direct recordings of the human brain in the minutes before and after a brain hub crucial for language meaning was surgically disconnected. The results reveal ...

Zika's Shape-Shifting Machinery, and a Possible Vulnerability

Dec. 8, 2023 — Viruses have limited genetic material -- and few proteins -- so all the pieces must work extra hard. Zika is a great example; the virus only produces 10 proteins. Now researchers have shown how the ...